The Journey – Chapter 1
Love is one thing, loving something else entirely. Is Joss ready to take the next step with John? Contains dialog from the scene in the precinct between John and Joss in The Crossing. Always Careese.
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"Hey, Carter, you here for the guy in a suit?"
Joss nodded at the older police officer, Bill Chatzky. "Yeah, Chat. Guess he got picked up by mistake and the brass wants someone to smooth it over with him before he gets released."
The Third Precinct had been officially closed for over a year due to extensive damage from Hurricane Sandy; there were a few administrative people still working there, but little else went on. With the uproar regarding the arrests of Quinn and hundreds of his HR cohorts flooding precincts around the city, John had been moved to this ancient building for his final processing.
HR had called in dozens of false reports that night to keep the legitimate police busy and to cover their pursuit, and Finch's lawyers had used that to their advantage, threatening to add to the stack of lawsuits already piling up on the Commissioner's desk, but finally 'conceding' since their client did have an unlicensed weapon, they would be satisfied with an apology from NYPD.
With no current cases assigned to her and a tip from Harold, Joss was available and conveniently in the detectives' bullpen, when her captain bellowed at her to go to the Third and make nice with the man who was being released this evening.
Chatzky nodded. "Got it. He did have a weapon without a permit, but with all this HR shit, he won't be the last one. Public feels they have to protect themselves from the perps – and the cops! Can't say I blame 'em," he shook his head in disgust. "I like to shake the hand of the person who brought those fuckers down – heard they're in Wit Sec until the trial."
Joss nodded. "Probably the safest place for them, Chat."
"Yeah." As he slid the paperwork over to her to sign, Chatzky lowered his voice. "Hey…" he paused as a group of people walked out of the building, "we're done for the night…can you do me a favor…"
Joss leaned closer to hear him. "What do you need?"
"Can you close up for us…Chew and I met these hot chi- I mean ladies, and we're havin' drinks with them tonight."
Joss sighed, shaking her head. "Chat…" Chatzky and Chusent, known as Chat and Chew, chased women the way they chased criminals – relentlessly and thoroughly. Legends in NYPD for their work, and their love lives, the two old Lotharios were enjoying a few months of desk duty before retirement.
"It's just me, Chew and the suit left. I've set the cameras and lights to shut off in a few minutes. The alarm is a simple keypad and everything else is set." He gave her the look that had seduced three ex-wives, all who still saw him on a regular basis. "Please?"
Joss rolled her eyes. "Yeah, yeah, just get out of here before I change my mind."
"Thanks. I owe you big time, Carter." His eyes twinkled. "You know, I'd much rather go out for a drink with you. How 'bout it?" He grinned at her. "You can give me my retirement gift a few months early, if you want."
Joss laughed. "Chat, if you want to live to see retirement, you should quit now!"
"Can't blame a guy for trying. You look good, Carter, real good. Life must be agreeing with you." Chatzky handed her a card with the alarm code written on it. "Last office, all the way down on the right. He's all yours."
Joss smiled softly as she turned toward the long hall leading to the office where John was being held. 'Yeah,' she thought, 'he certainly is.'
Chew nodded to her as they passed in the entrance to the narrow corridor, and she could hear him laughing with Chat as they prepared to head out for their evening.
Out of sight of the two men, Joss' smile faded as she stood there, looking down the long hall. All the offices were dark, except for the one at the very end where she could see a small circle of light shining through the glass.
The days had passed by in a blur. After being confronted with just a little of the mountain of evidence Joss had collected against HR, Quinn had sold out his men trying to save his own skin. Simmons had died in a bloody shootout with Fusco. The remaining HR members had turned on each other as they fought for deals with prosecutors. HR was dead, truly dead this time, never to return.
In a rare show of cooperation and intelligence, the FBI and the NYPD had managed to keep her name under wraps for now; Joss had been quietly reinstated as a Detective and the FBI had seconded her to a joint task force on organized crime. She was going to spend the next year working in Washington, DC, while the case against Quinn and HR was finalized before trial.
Taylor would be living with her ex-husband, Paul, while she was away. One of the bright spots of her unavailability and secretiveness during the months she was building the case against HR was the strengthening of the relationship between Taylor and Paul; it was good to see them be so good together.
Joss had snuck in food from Fusco's favorite falafel joint into his hospital room, sipped tea with Harold and tossed back shots with Shaw. She had a glass of that wonderful wine with Elias and they shook hands as they formally dissolved their arrangement, acknowledging that they would be on opposite sides of the law again.
And on a pale dawn, Joss had laid flowers on Beecher's and Szymanski's graves.
She had spoken to, and spent time with everyone important to her.
Except John.
Rikers had taught her a tragic lesson about letting her emotions show and Joss was determined not to give anyone a hint that she knew the man sitting in this building. Finch and Shaw had worked tirelessly to remove any digital and physical trace of John's presence as he had accompanied her across the city, and Fusco had quietly checked on John, assuring her that he was okay while he was in custody.
Joss heard Chat and Chew leave, the clang of the front door closing echoing through the building.
But as she stood there, Joss wondered if her staying away from John wasn't just about keeping him safe.
The hallway stretched out in front of her, vanishing into the darkness.
'Once you go down that road, there's no looking back.'*
John had spoken those words to her a lifetime ago, and as Joss stared at the long gray ribbon of tile, she thought about all the journeys she had taken with him, each one leading to this very moment.
There had always been something between them, but Joss had pushed it aside, even as they became closer, even as they spent more and more time together. John had become a regular at her house, his own coffee mug next to hers and Taylor's. He had found a ratty old U Dub** sweatshirt at a thrift shop, delighting at her grimace as he'd fish it out of the coat closet, throwing it on and plopping beside her and Taylor on the couch as they watched a movie or some sporting event together.
They'd talk, sometimes for hours and hours, and even though there were disagreements and fights and times when they did not speak to each other, somehow they always came back together, they always found each other.
Joss would come home and the Puyallup Herald would be neatly folded with the other recyclables, his mug washed and sitting in the dish rack.
Joss had drunk from that mug every day that he was in custody.
John was the man of the house even though he didn't live there.
Beecher had sensed his presence and his possessiveness and jealousy were driven by it.
Zoe's sharp glances and sly cutting barbs told Joss that the only thing John shared with her was his body.
But Beecher was gone, and Shaw had told Joss in her blunt caustic way over a drink several weeks ago that John had ended his relationship with Zoe.
And Joss knew that when she called John for help as she drove to Judge Monahan's house that the last barrier between them had fallen.
John Reese had not only stepped over that barrier, he'd kicked it aside and shattered it in the morgue.
John loved her, she knew it, and Joss knew she loved him.
But love was one thing, loving something else entirely.
Was she ready to take this journey with John?
Her hand slipped into her jacket pocket, curling around the bullet John had given her.
Silently, she moved down the hall.
Joss took a deep breath, opened the office door and walked in.
*Season One episode, Legacy
**University of Washington. In the Season Two episode Prisoner's Dilemma, John Warren received his MBA from there.
A/N: Next, trouble.